Fruit-perforating machine



Nov. 12, 1929.

T. C. MOORE FRUIT PERFORATING HACIIINE l Filed Nov. l. 1926 1IIIIII|||IIlllli-lllllllllllllmmlllillllll Nov. 12 1929.

-T. C. MOORE FRUIT PERFORMING MACHINE Filed Nov. l, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet MN um INVENTOR. wwzm/ @nov/Lb.

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Patented Nov. 12, 1929 IJNrrr."o STATES PATENT OFFICE @molinesA ormone, or FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNoRJrOMOR-rax `rRIisRRvINe y CORPORATION,OF FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF NEVADA FRUIRPERFORATING MACHINE Application filed November 1, 1926. Serial No. 145,677.

"to betterpermeation. `When completed and "packedthe fruit is whole and retains 'its Lnatural color and plumpness, as the cooking periodis materiallyk reduced and the syrup soA ylutinfis absorbed by the fruit through the perforations, 'when cooling, thus f plumping the fruit.r

"Theobjectof the present invention is to provide a' machine by means of which figs and j thelike can bei readily perforated without in "any way 4injuring or marring the same; to

f provi'dea'vmach-ine of large capacity and -further to provide a machine which automaticalyly feeds the fruitand discharges the fruit `One form which the invention may assume J3@ is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa side elevation of the machine, Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine, Figure Sis an enlarged longitudinal ksection of the feed belt in the perforating mechanism taken'on the line III-III of Figure .2, 'Figure 4 isy a plan view of the stripping frame,

Figure 5 is an enlarge 'detail cross section of the roller adjusting mechanism whereby the -1`aerforatin`g table is raised and lowered,

Figure 6V is an enlarged cross section of one of the perforating needles.

Fig. 7 iis anvenlarged -s'ide'elevation of vllzztending'fcrosswise of the frame and jour` -nnle'd thereon arefazpair ofacr'oss shafts 3 and 4. These shafts are disposed at opposite ends yof the frame and each carries pulleys 5 which, in't'urn, support an endless conveyor belt 6 weich is preferably constructed of rubber or the like;r i i Extending crosswise of the frame and journaled vat the point 7 is a drive shaft upon which is mounted a driving pulley 8, apair of cam members 9 and a Geneva movement actuator 10.

function of which will hereinafter be described. Disposed forwardly of the driving shaft 7 and also journaled Crosswise of the frame as at 13,is an intermediate driving shaft on vone end of which is secured ahuby member 14 from which radiates four arms such as indicated at 15. On the opposite end of the shaft is a sprocket gear 16, from which 'power is transmitted through a. chain 17 to.

intermittently rotate a sprocket 18 secured on ythe shaft 3. rThe hub member 14 together with the radial arms 1E: form the second member of the Geneva drive and its operates as follows: f

The drive shaft 7 rotates in the direction of 'the arrow a and as the ksegment 10 is secured to the shaft, it will rotate in the same direction. During rotation of the segment, pin 11 engages the yarm 15a and thereby rotates the yhub member and shaft 13 a quarter of a revolution. At the same time that the pin 11 This actuator is in the form of f a segmentand it carries 2 pins 11 and 12, the

travels out of engagement with the arm 15a, f

the pin 12 engagesthe arm 15b and rotation `7 no movement is imparted to the shaft 13 asV the pins 11 and 12 will not engage the armsl. The one-half revolution transmitted to the shaft 13 is transmitted through the socket chain 17to-theshaft 3. This, in turn, rotates the pulley 5 and, accordingly, advances the main conveyor belt 6, a predetermined distance inthe direction of the arrow b.

yDisposed below the'belt 6 is a supporting plate'19 and similarly disposed below the belt forward of the supporting plate are a plu- Jr' rality of supporting rollers 20. Disposed above the plate 19 and the belt 6 is a perforating table 2l and disposed intermediate the perforating table and the belt is a stripping frame 22. Formed on each side of the table 2l are outwardly projecting lugs 28 and extending therethrough are guide rods 24. These rods are arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the main frame A and are secured thereto. The rods extend through the lugs 23 and thereby'form guides which permit vertical movement of the perforating table, as will hereinafter be described. The upper ends of the rods are connected by a vstatiornagy frame 25, thus rigidly connecting the upper ends of the rods and forming a rigid support to guide the table 21 in its vertical movement.

The tableV 2l is best illustrated in Figure 3 and is referred to as a perforating table for the simple reason that it carries a plurality of perforating needles, such as indicated at 26. The needles are cast or otherwise secured in babbitt blocks such as indicated at 27 and these are, in turn, secured to the table proper by means of bolts and nuts as indicated at 28. This method of securing the needlesis preferable as it sometimes happens that certain of the needles have become bent. by roel-:s which have become embedded in the fruit or by metallic tools or the like which may accidentally have dropped on the belt. If one or more needles become bent in this manner, it is only necessary to release the blocl; containing the bent needles and the block may thus be readily removed and a new block inserted.

The figs or other fruit to be perfor ted are placed on the conveyor belt ti at the end indicated 'at B and uniformly spread in a single layer on the surface of the belt. The belt is intermittently advanced through the Geneva movement previously described and the figs are thus brought under the perforatrequired. This stripping arrangement censisrs of a rectangular-shaped frame consisting of cross bars 92 and longitudinal bars Small pins are secured to the cross bars as indicated at 30 and wires 3l are strung longitudinally from pin to pin. The needles 25 pass betweenthefwire's 3l rand are thus free to move downwardly when perforating the fruit. On the other hand when the perforating table is elevated the iigs are retained by the longitudinal wires 31 and the needles are thus extracted and the moment they are extracted the figs drop baclt on the belt. After the figs are perforated, the Geneva movement again comes into action and the belt is advanced a surivicient distance to remove the perforated figs forwardly on the perforating table and, at the same time, delivering a new batch of gs into position to be perforated, during the next reciprocal movement of the perforating table.

The perforated figsV are discharged Jfrom the belt 6 when passing over the pulley 5 a n d are thus delivered into a discharge chute Sy reiter g toFigure 7, it will be noted that the cani 9 is provided with two sures, a surface of continuous radius such as indicated at 3l and a surface of diminishradius such as indicated at 351 The surface of constant radius formsy oney half of the cam and the surface of diminishing radius forms the other half of the cam.

By referring to 1rligure 5, it will be noted that the lug 23 carries a. plunger 36 which may be adjusted vertically` by means of a set screw 3l' and further that the lower end of the plunger carries a roller y3S which is engagea by the cam 9. It should also be understood that there are two cams such as indicated at 9, one on each end of the shaft and similarly that there are two adjustable rollers 38 one on each side of the perforating table. The table, together with the needles securec thereto is, in other words, supported byV the cams 9 and theadjustable rcllers 38v and the vertical movement im- A to the table is, accordingly, transmittet through the cams 9 f rlhe table assumes an elevated position when kthe rollers 38 en- 34 of the cams and the table is raised and lowered vhcn the rollers 38 engage the surface 85 of the diminishing radins.

lt should also be noted by referring to Figure l, that the segment l0 carrying the pins ll and l2 aligns with the cam surface This is important as it will cause advancing of the belt 6, while the perforating table is elevated and will permit the conveyor bell' to remain stationary when the perforating table is being reciprocated. By again referring to Figures l and fl, it will be n ted that the perforating frame is resiliently supported, that is, the ends of the cross bars 22 are perforated and are slidable and guided on the stationary rods -l-O secured in pairs on opposite sides or" the main frame A. Y f

Springs, such as indicated at all are interposed between the main frame A and the lower portion of the stripping frame and springs r2 are interposed between the upper ends of the rods and the upper portion of the stripping frame. The stripping `frame is, accordingly, resiliently supported and can yield. both during downward movelll ment of the perforating table and during the upward or stripping action. Another feature which should be considered is the cross-sectional shape of the perfor-ating' needles. This is indicated in Figure 6. rIltis .figure is an extreme enlargement of a cross section of a needle and it shows that the sides of the needles are parallel, as indicated at 45 and 4&6 and that the ends are slightly rounded as at 47.

Actual experience has shown that if the needle is round, it requires more force to perforate the fruit and it also requires additional force to strip the fruit. On the other y hand, by making the needles of a cross-sectional area such as shown 1n Figure 6, both perforation and stripping 1s accomphshet avith much greater ease, thus relieving the cams 9 and rollers 38 of excessive stress and wear. The perforating table 21 is fairly heavy, due to the fact that the needles arey yunder compression and the compression may be increased or decreased by adjusting the position of the nuts 51. In other words, the springs 52 serve the function of counterbalancing, to some extent, the weight of the perforating table 21, thus further relieving the rollers 38 and the cams 9 of excessive Wear. It will, of course, be understood that the tension of the springs must not be sufficient to hold the table in an elevated position, as such a tension Would prevent downward movement of the table ywhen perforating. The tension, in other words, merely relieves excess weight.

A machine constructed as described, permits fruits such as figs and the like to be handled in great quantities `and it insures thatL each piece of fruit is completely perforated with a great number of perforations. It also prevents marring or mutilation of the fruit, as the movement of the perforating mechanism is vertical. It will, of course, be understood that the belt 6 will be kept covered with figs or other fruit to be handled by workers stationed at the end B. This will be the only attention required as the machine fr is, otherwise entirely automatic in operation,

that is, the figs are advanced from the point where they are delivered and they are then automatically perforated, stripped and discharged from the machine.

l Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters- Patent is zresilient belt.

@1.In a perforatingn'iachineI offthe character described, alperforat-ing table, means for imparting vertical reciprocal movement thereto,vand` a plurality of needles carried by the 'f table, said needles being substantially rectangular-shaped in cross-section.

2. In a perforating machine of the character described, a perforati-ng table, a plurality of perforating needles carried by the table. means for imparting an intermittent vertical reciprocal movement to the table and the needles, saidtable being supported by said last named means, and a pair of springs connected with the table and forming apartial support for the table to relieve the vertical reciprocating means of the entire weight of the table and the needles. f f

3. In a perforating machine of the character described, a resilient support adapted to receive fruit to be perforated, a horizontally L ythe resilient support and the perforating needles, stripping wires carried by said frame ybetween which the needles are adapted to pass, and means for resiliently supporting the frame and the stripping wires.

4. In a perforating machine of the character described, a main frame, a pair of pulleys journalled in said frame, one at each end thereof, an endless resilient belt carried by said pulleys, a drive shaft j ournalled in the frame and adapted to be continuously rotated, an intermediate shaft journalled in the frame, a driving connection between said intermediate shaft and one of the pulleys, a hub member `secured on the intermediate shaft, a plurality of arms on said hub member, a plate secured on the 4drive shaft, and a pair of interspacedfpins on said plate, said pins adapted to alternately engage the arms on the intermediate shaft and thereby impart an intermittent rotary movement to the intermediate shaft Land the pulleys supporting the 5. In a perforating machine of the charac- I ter described, a main frame, a pair of guide members secured, one on each side of the frame, a crosshead reciprocally mounted on each guide member, a horizontally disposed table secured between the vcrosshead members, a plurality of perforating needles secured to the lower face of said table, a resilient support adapted to receive fruit to be perforated supported bythe main frame and disposed between the guide members and ybelow the perforating needles, means for intermittently advancing said resilient support, an adjustable roller carried by each crosshead member, a pair of cams, one on each sider of the l'f main frame engageable with said rollers to impart a vertical upward movement to the Crosshead members, the table, and the peroratng needles and spring actuated means for imparting a downward movement to said members.

THOMAS O. MOORE. 

